Responding to the pandemic: Nursing education and the ACEN

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of some of the ways in which nursing education programs and the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) adapted to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the longer-term impacts of the pandemic cannot be known, it is clear that nurse educators rose to the challenge of educating nurses during a pandemic through rapid implementation of innovative teaching strategies and student support. The article also provides some guidance for ACEN-accredited nursing education programs regarding substantive changes that may be permanently implemented as a result of what programs learned during the pandemic.